


Graphic

by Goldragon (thebookhunter)



Series: So long ago and out of sight [7]
Category: Led Zeppelin
Genre: Attempt at Humor, M/M, adventures in graphic design, like the union of two houses, of the feather and the sigil, sort of like a marriage if you will, the fusion of two symbols, the page/plant logo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:06:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24336349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebookhunter/pseuds/Goldragon
Summary: After their reunion in the mid-nineties, when it's time to go on their world tour as Page/Plant, Robert and Jimmy meet with Kevin the martyred graphic designer to develop a symbol that's neither the one nor the other, but represents instead the merging of both as one.They have very clear ideas. And, like, so many of them. They're extremely demanding.So what's in a symbol? Sit down with Kevin, Jimmy and Robert are about to explain thoroughly and in painstaking detail, and then some.
Relationships: Jimmy Page/Robert Plant
Series: So long ago and out of sight [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700926
Comments: 15
Kudos: 21





	Graphic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ledbythreads](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ledbythreads/gifts).



> This is silly. 
> 
> Also, it's not. Know what I mean?
> 
> (Thanks for the title, Leds.)

JP: Well, Kevin. We have the two symbols. What we’re looking for, see, is combining the two.

K: Righ, uh-huh.

RP: But not like a logo. We are not the bloody Coca-Cola Company.

JP: God forbid.

K: Of course not.

RP: It’s much, much more than that. What we want, see, we’re bringing them together as one, so to speak. Fusing them. So to the onlooker, to the world, they present as one. Together. One.

K: I see.

RP: So they become a symbol of their own. They mean more than they do apart. They _are_ more. They have a… different sort of feel, a different sort of meaning. A different sort of power.

K: Right. 

RP: Therefore, they should be on an equal standing. Visually.

K: Sort of like this?

RP: It’s a start.

K: Right, okay so, well, the feather it’s a feather _and_ a circle, but the sigil it’s kinda… just a sigil? Should we maybe remove the circle, so that...

RP: Absolutely not. We want to keep the circle. For its many associations. It’s wholeness, completion, And it’s the idea of a never ending cycle. Like… the seasons. Going on and on and on, they come and go, but they always, _always_ return.

K: … Right.

RP: Also, the feather and circle together give a sense of… the feminine and the masculine.

K: Oh?

RP: Well, the circle is also protection, and it’s also about rebirth. So it’s sort of like… Kind of like a womb.

K: Oh.

RP: So we have the feminine and the masculine. The womb and the. Uh, the feather.

K: Ah.

RP: We want both, you see. This duality. 

JP: Yes. 

RP: And the circle embraces them both. Basically the feather shares an undying home with the sigil. 

K: ...kay.

JP: And what belonged to the feather, now they own together in their fused state.The circle becomes a spotlight on that togetherness. That union. 

K: Like a union of two houses? 

RP: Sort of. 

K: As in, like a marriage? 

RP: ...

JP: ... So to speak. 

K: So the circle could be kind of like a wedding ring?

RP: …

JP: …

RP: If you will. 

K: So basically what we’re going for is a symbol of the marriage of the feather and the sigil.

RP: 

JP: In a way.

RP: And their interaction. In a sort of dynamic sort of way.

K: Interaction, yes. Dynamism...?

RP: Yes, dynamism. We want there to be a sense of motion, of action. We want movement. Those were the old symbols, this is the new symbol. We have _mooooved_ from the old symbols, see? We go forwards. Not to the past, _forwards_.

K: Uh… huh?

RP: And the feather, it has that… Potential. To power that movement, that flight. And in that potential, there is tension. So we have movement, and power, we have…

JP: Dynamic tension.

RP: That’s it, thank you, Pagey. It’s not a static feather.

K: Right. Okay. Well, we can kind of, tilt the feather? Like this?

RP: That’s right! Perfect! It immediately acquires this impression of movement. It goes from one side of the other, echoing the idea of flight and… and… 

K: Direction?

RP: Right! Direction! Movement! _Onwards and upwards_!

JP: And now it doesn’t just fall on the sigil, it doesn’t pin it down like some sort of…

K: Insect?

JP: Dead thing. Precisely. No pinning of dead things. The feather… What’s the word. It… slides between the runes, but with a purpose. It breaks through the enclosed mystery that is the sigil. It...

K: Pierces? Spikes?

JP: Not quite, no. It… thrusts in, and in doing so, it...

K: Enters?

JP: Hmmm...

K: Penetrates?

JP: That’s it! It penetrates the sigil. That’s exactly it.

RP: But dynamically.

JP: And with tension.

RP: Vigorously.

K: Penetrates the sigil.

RP: Yes. And we should make it more organic, abandon the stark schematism. Give it texture, give it detail. 

JP: Yes, yes. We don’t want it just to evoke the idea of a feather. It’s a real feather. Nothing distracts from its… its real featherness.

K: Rrrrright…?

JP: From an idea to a reality you can grasp. Touch. _Feel_. 

RP: And we do away with the abstraction as a sort of gesture of... We abandon the world of ideas, so to speak. We don't suggest, we don't obscure, we don't.. pretend this is anything but what it is. Basically, it’s a bleeding feather.

JP: There, in your face. A feather.

RP: Shamelessly.

JP: A feather.

K: Uh.

RP: We should eliminate that curve at the tip too.

JP: Yes, we want it quite, uh, what’s the word. I was going to say straight.

(Laughter)

JP: We certainly don’t want a floppy feather.

RP: God, no.

JP: Definitely not a soft feather.

RP: Well, it has a soft side to it. 

JP: Well yes, it’s a feather. 

RP: But it has a hard core. 

JP: Full of hot air.

RP: _Excuse me._ The core _has_ to be light, for flight. And flexibility. 

JP: The runes do not lag behind in that regard, actually.

RP: But the feather is flexible by nature. So it can yield, and weather the strongest winds not by standing to them but weaving through them. That’s how it can…

K: Pardon me, are we still talking about the design? 

RP: Uh.

K: So the way we have it now, the feather penetrates the sigil and… Pierces through it? Like, comes out the other end? 

RP: But gets trapped. (Laughter.)

K: So do we want to change this, or is this the effect we’re going for, or…?

JP: Well you know, it all goes to giving a sense of the sigil as a sort of a doorway, as a portal to a different… 

RP: A different self. Utterly, completely, fundamentally changed. Turned upside down and inside out.

K: Do we want this in the design, or…?

JP: It’s symbolic. Penetrating the sigil is sort of like, like a rite of passage. 

K: And the feather is… stuck?

JP: _Conjoined_. So the ritual…

RP: ...The ritual penetration of the sigils by the feather...

JP: Yes, thanks, Robert. The ritual leaves neither the sigil nor the feather the same as they were. In the ritual, they’re both interwoven, they are joined. They become one. 

K: When the feather penetrates the sigil.

RP: And gets trapped. (Laughter) And in this new union, in their balance, they are now on an equal standing.

JP: Yes. The feather is almost equal to the sigil. Now.

RP: _Almost_? 

JP: Well, you know. The runes are imbued with power, they hold knowledge and...

RP: _Now_?

JP: The feather can finally, _finally_ fathom the depths of the sigil and help to bring its deepest knowledge to the light. Illumination in the wholeness of the circle, the unity.

RP: The _coming together_ , if you will.

K: Coming together.

JP: The sigil envelops the feather. Tightly.

RP: But not too tight. Just right. 

JP: Yes. It’s a harmonious uh, enveloping. 

RP: Made for each other. Filling each other’s empty spaces. Completing each other. 

JP: Yes. The arcane and divine with the earthly and physical. Knowledge through study, and knowledge through experience, a bold flight in the world, soaring towards the sun.

RP: And neither can achieve it without the other. Each brings its own wisdom.

JP: Though the sigil has that sense of sort of depth.

RP: And the potential for flight of the feather has been realised into full power.

JP: Yes, well. There’s power in their unity, in their togetherness. That’s the whole idea.

K: Alright. So, the way we have it now, the sigil kind of covers the feather. Do we want that, or...?

JP: Not quite cover. You have to make the runes sort of… wrap around it. Enfold it. So it gives the idea of… 

K: An embrace.

RP: Yes. It’s an embrace of equals, it’s...

K: A partnership?

JP: Well, there is that, the collaboration, the mutual enrichment, the common goal, but the feeling is not quite so aseptic. 

K: So, companionship? Friendship?

RP: That sort of lacks the right sense of... You know, we have the womb and the earthliness, have a union of two houses, sort of like a marriage, so companionship, friendship, it falls short, It sounds a little too… Uuuum...

K: Platonic?

JP: Yes. That self-satisfied, proto-christian, sermon-preaching, ugly bugger. Absolutely not. If we must go for Greek philosophy, it will definitely not be platonism. No. It’s an embrace of, shall we say… The idea I’m looking for… almost like, sort of… It’s a tender embrace, but assertive. It’s… What’s the word. It _holds_ the feather, it _keeps_ the feather. It has a-a _claim_ over the feather. It’s not quite control. Not dominion…

RP: Absolutely not controlling the feather. 

JP: Tell me about it. 

RP: As for dominating, it’s usually the runes who...

JP: _Which_. It’s the runes _which_. No. It’s almost like, like… It ought to convey a sense of… A sense of… 

K: A claim. Ownership?

JP: Yes! Quite right. Thanks. Ownership. _Possession_. That’s it. The sigil _receives_ the feather and _envelops_ it tightly, and it cradles it like something precious, but it _grips_ it tight, and the feather isn’t going anywhere soon, because the sigil is sort of guarding it, sort of curling around it, like…

K: A dragon. On his hoard of gold.

JP: Exactly! That’s it exactly, isn’t it, Robert?

RP: That’s exactly right. But I want the feather to be bigger.

JP: But Robert, the balance of the composition… 

RP: Bigger.

K: It will overlap the circle.

RP: Bigger.

K: _Massively_ overlap.

RP: _Bigger_.

K: Uh, the proportions, for aesthetic reasons if nothing else…

RP: Juuuust a little bit bigger.

JP: Gosh, Robert, for heaven’s sakes, that’s big enough. 

RP: Has to be a bloody big and assertive feather to satisfy that sigil.

K: Come again, satisfy?

RP: From an aesthetic point of view.

K: Ooookay.… 

JP: Alright then. Make the sigil bigger too, while you’re at it. To balance the composition.

K: So... they’re definitely overlapping the circle.

JP: That’s quite alright. We don’t want the circle to constrain the symbols. They’re not prisoners of the circle. They’re sort of _emerging_ from it. 

RP: They’re coming out.

K: Of the circle. 

JP: Yes, out of the circle. To the fore. To the light, so to speak. To the world.

K: `Kay.

JP: The sigil just _barely_ comes out, though. Delicately. Tastefully. Unlike others. Always all out there. 

RP: The sigil has never had complaints about that?

JP: Not that the feather ever bloody _listens_. 

RP: Also, can you make it look like the feather is enjoying it?

K: Uh, I suppose I could... try?

RP: _And_ the runes too. They’re very happy runes having a great time uuuuh _embracing_ the feather.

K: … Alright.

RP: Great.

K: Uh, so, have we considered, uh, colors?

RP: Sand.

JP: Sand?

RP: Yes, Pagey, you know. _Sand_. 

JP: Oh, right! Sand! 

RP: But rocky.

JP: Of course, rocky sand. 

K: Rocky sand?

JP: It’s a symbol carved up in ageless stone.

RP: Hard.

JP: Robert, please. 

RP: What? Solid. Strong. Firm. Stony. Stiff?

JP: Robert...

RP: Durable. Resilient. Compact. Dense. Thick.

JP: I’ll say.

K: Impenetrable?

JP: It rather depends. But no. Mineral as in the bones of the earth. The foundations.

RP: To sort of build. Raise. Erect, if you will.

JP: Exactly. It's where it all comes from. Where it started. What sustained it. The basis and the cradle.

RP: And it still holds.

K: …

JP: It's primal. Fundamental. 

RP: And eternal.

JP: (Blushing) Oh, _you_.

**Author's Note:**

> Have you seen the bloody thing though. When we first saw it we thought it was slash fanart, eh Leds?
> 
> Subtlety, thy name is neither Jimmy Page, nor Robert Plant, and most definitely not Page/Plant.


End file.
